Baby, it’s cold outside? Please. When you’re staging Hedda Gabler, baby, it’s even colder inside.

A new, arresting, streamlined adaptation on Henrik Ibsen’s classic drama is now on stage at Ferndale’s Slipstream Theatre. The title character, played by three women (Kaitlyn Valor Bourque, Luna Alexander, and Tiaja Sabrie), is newly, if not ecstatically, married to a young academic, George (Ryan Ernst), when she learns that an old flame, Eilert (Artun Kircali), is back in town.

Though suffering from alcoholism, Eilert has written a hugely successful book; and under the radar and “on the wagon” – with the starry-eyed help of an old schoolmate of Hedda’s who’s in an unhappy marriage (Victoria Rose Weatherspoon) – he’s also just written his masterpiece. When Eilert misplaces the manuscript, and it ends up in Hedda’s hands, she believes she finally might have the power she’s wanted all along.

Slipstream’s adaptation is a thoughtful, bare bones approach, disposing of George’s aunt (who’s ushered to “off-stage” status) and the maid. We also have three Heddas: one the frigid trophy wife (Bourque), one the sultry seductress (Alexander), one the youthful, wisecracking, puckish rebel (Sabrie), not only suggesting the identity complexities that lie within us all, but also representing Hedda’s common denominator for three different men. The Hedda that each male character needs, and feels drawn to, textures the way we read and respond to them. READ THE REST HERE

As a parent, when you hear, “Let’s sing Itsy Bitsy Spider,” you don’t normally expect the next words to be a super-pumped “LET’S DO THIS!”

But then again, you are not usually getting this invitation from Sesame Street Livecharacters at Detroit’s Fox Theatre, where the newest production, “Let’s Dance,” is now playing.

Fittingly, the “Spider” that follows isn’t like your wobbly-voiced, finger-pinching home edition. It’s got a beat, with a touch of funk and lots of Sesame Street’s big, beloved, colorful characters (plus two human stars) exuberantly executing choreography.

In a way, this sums up “Let’s Dance” in a nutshell. READ THE REST HERE

Photo by Julieta Cervantes

At the beginning of the Young Jean Lee Theater Company’s production of “Untitled Feminist Show,” in Ann Arbor for two performances (Thursday and Friday, January 21 and 22) courtesy of UMS, members of the six person cast breathe and walk slowly, in unison, down the Power Center’s two main aisleways, completely naked.

The moment has the feeling of an ancient ritual, but it also gives the audience a quiet moment to adjust to seeing unabashed nudity, in the form of aging, imperfect bodies that we don’t usually see beyond the bounds of our own mirror.

It’s shocking, and makes you realize that while we may think, in our hyper-sexualized culture, that we see the human body all the time, we’re actually only invited to gaze at one particular type of body: young and thin. To see a much broader range of bodies dancing, leaping, interacting with audience members is a strange kind of revelation. Continue reading →